1. Field of Disclosed Subject Matter
This disclosure relates to systems and methods for producing solid ink laminate security features that may be included in tapes, wraps, labels marks or seals for product packaging to improve tamper resistance of the product packaging.
2. Related Art
Tampering, with respect to products and product packaging, generally refers to affirmative actions undertaken by individuals to modify the products and/or packaging in a manner that is intended to render the products unsuitable, unusable and/or potentially harmful to users or consumers of the products. Tampering, with regard to packaged products, takes many forms and is most effective when the package tampering goes undetected. A well-publicized case of harmful product tampering occurred in the early 1980's when seven people died after taking pain-relief medicine capsules that had been poisoned. This case led to reforms in products and product packaging for over-the-counter medications, and to the enactment of federal anti-tampering laws. See 18 U.S.C. §1365—Tampering with consumer products (making it a federal offense to tamper with or taint any consumer product, or to falsely label any consumer product, or a container for any consumer product, including any food, drug, device or cosmetic, or “any article, product, or commodity which is customarily produced or distributed for consumption by individuals, or use by individuals for purposes of personal care or in the performance of services ordinarily rendered within the household, and which is designed to be consumed or expended in the course of such consumption or use”). Dangers that are generally associated with the most severe instances of tampering include, but are not limited to, death, physical pain, disfigurement, illness, and loss or impairment of the function of a bodily member, organ, or mental faculty. For companies, injury may manifest itself in the form of significant economic loss based simply on a suspicion that a company's products are unsafe as having been subjected to tampering. The economic loss may include an amount of stock for a particular product that needs to be replaced and destroyed, particularly when it is impossible to tell if any particular single item has been tampered with. The economic loss may be further predicated on a general fear on the part of the consuming public when assurances cannot be provided that the company's products are “safe.”
In view of the potentially devastating effects of tampering in the form of actual injury or economic loss, companies expend significant efforts in guarding against tampering with measures that seek to (1) make actual tampering with regard to individual products more difficult, and (2) provide product and packaging designs that provide recognizable indications of tampering as a warning to a user or a consumer.
It is generally recognized that it is virtually impossible to render products or product packages that are available to the general public in the consumer marketplace “tamper-proof” Products, and packaging for products, can, however, generally be made tamper resistant to those having access to the product or product packaging. Tamper resistance, as it applies to products and product packaging, takes many forms as devices or features that are added to the products themselves, or to the products' packaging, to deter product tampering. These devices or features may include one or more of (1) packaging that is composed of multiple layers, (2) packaging that, by its composition, is regarded as extra-strong and/or extra-secure, and (3) packaging that cannot be resealed providing evidence that it has been unsealed.
In many applications including those referred to above, the deterrent effect may be provided not strictly based on any capacity to thwart actual tampering, but rather on the knowledge that evidence of any tampering or attempted tampering will be indicated by the product or packaging. In this regard, certain of the devices and features that are included to make products and product packaging tamper-resistant may be generally more appropriately characterized as devices and features that make the products and the product packaging “tamper-evident.”
Tamper-evident devices and features include tapes, wraps, labels, marks and seals that constitute perhaps the most prevalent and visible form of tamper resistance for products and product containers that are familiar to the general public. These tamper-evident devices and features are generally applied to products and product containers where it can be particularly important to know that a particular product has not been altered since the product left the manufacturer or packager.
Tamper-evident packaging takes many forms, many of which may be circumvented. Jarred food items are often packaged with metal bubble-top “safety button” lids that pop up when the jar is opened. An unpopped “safety button,” therefore, should indicate that the jar has never been opened. Presumably, the seal was achieved by packaging the jars in a low-pressure atmosphere, albeit that details of the sealing procedures were generally guarded as companies' trade secrets. It has, however, been publicly demonstrated that these tamper-evident jar lids can be reclosed with their seals appearing to have been undisturbed. Based on such demonstrations, a need arose for additional tamper-evident closures that could be applied to a broader cross-section of typical containers. A plastic wrap or tape emerged that was typically “shrink-wrapped” with the application of heat around the edge of the lid to be removed when the lid is opened the first time. These wraps or tapes are often, however, able to be removed and replaced with a careful application of heat during an intentional unsealing and resealing process that is designed to tamper with the product and to hide any evidence of the tampering.